Player Ratings: Manchester City cruise past Marseille

Manchester City put in their best performance of the season in the French Riviera against Marseille.

Manchester City continued a solid start to a relatively straightforward group stage with an encouraging showing in their 3-0 win over Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome. City are now on six points from their first two matches, and are now firmly in the driving seat with consecutive matches against Olympiacos coming up next.

Defense

Ederson (GK): Had next to nothing to do in this match with the defense looking solid in front of him. (6)

Kyle Walker (RB): Bombed forward and tracked the runs of Marseille easily, keeping everything in check for City down his side. (7)

Rúben Dias (CB): Along with Laporte, this is the most stable City have looked since the days of the Vincent Kompany-Laporte partnership at the end of 2018/19. Dias is no-nonsense, keeps everything in front of him, and kept a straightforward clean sheet. (7.5)

Aymeric Laporte (CB): Had a late sliding challenge, but overall looked very comfortable on his return to the team. (7)

Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB): After a poor season a year ago, the Ukrainian looked very comfortable in this match as he contends at the one defensive position where there is not a clear first choice. (7)

Midfield

Rodri (CDM): Without anyone really challenging him with pace in transition, this match was perfectly suited to the Spaniard as he shielded the defense and kept City’s midfield passing game ticking. (7)

İlkay Gündoğan (CDM): Another very good performance from a player I have questioned in the past, especially for his poor performances in the Champions League knockout eliminations. Two games, two goals, and an influential showing in midfield. (8)

Kevin De Bruyne (CAM): Two assists on his return to the starting lineup, and a Man of the Match performance from City’s superstar. He was absolutely running the show today, and City fans will hope these kinds of games will continue with some big fixtures coming up. (8.5)

Attack

Ferran Torres (RW): On current form, he should be ahead of Riyad Mahrez in the pecking order. He scored another goal to give City their only advantage for most of the game, and was influential throughout. (7.5)

Raheem Sterling (ST): Floated between the center and the right flank, where I believe he should play more often. For stretches of the match, he couldn’t quite get the end product right (something that’s been a worrying trend this season), but he assisted the second and then tapped home a De Bruyne cross for the third. (7)

Phil Foden (LW): Some exquisite touches, brilliant technique, and regular involvement from a player who usually brings a spark to this team no matter where he is deployed. (7.5)

More from Game Review

Substitutes

João Cancelo (LB): Came on and finally created for 10 minutes what I believe to be City’s best back four: Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo. Hopefully this group can build chemistry and get a consistent run of games. (7)

Riyad Mahrez (RW): Looked much better, getting involved on the third goal, but will struggle to unseat Torres on current form. (7)

John Stones (CB): Came on late for Laporte, who had a yellow and was returning for injury, and saw out the match. It was good to see him back on the pitch, and I hope that he will move ahead of Eric García in City’s rotation. (6)

Bernardo Silva (CAM): Came on late and hit the ground running (literally), finding himself in the thick of the action until the final whistle. (6.5)

Cole Palmer (CM): Made his Champions League debut with the game already gone in an exciting moment for the youngster who played his first senior appearance against Burnley in the Carabao Cup. (6)